Conceptual models of adjustment to chronic illness (Compas & Boyer, 2001; Wallander & Varni, 1992) suggest that attention regulation and executive function indirectly influence children's adjustment through coping; executive function and attention regulation influence the effectiveness of the coping attempt, which, in turn, influences the child's adjustment. This study aims to clarify the role of executive function and attention regulation in coping and its effect on pain intensity and functional disability in children and adolescents with functional abdominal pain (episodic or continuous abdominal pain at least once per week for 2 months that has no identifiable disease process). Such children have increased rates of school absences, disturbances in social relations, and health care utilization. It is expected that active coping strategies will mediate the relation between executive function and attention regulation and adjustment to the functional abdominal pain. Also, it is hypothesized that poorer executive function and attention regulation will be related to the higher rates of passive or disengagement coping strategies. It is expected that measures of executive function and attention regulation will be significant predictors of adjustment (pain and functional disability) after controlling for several factors known to influence these variables. Participants will be school-aged children, ages 8-16, recently diagnosed with functional abdominal pain by a pediatric gastroenterologist. A cross-sectional design will be used to test the relations between executive function and attention regulation, coping, and adjustment. Executive function will be measured by a standardized, well-validated parent-report questionnaire, the Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Function, while attention regulation will be measured by two subtests of the widely used Test of Everyday Attention for Children. Coping, outcome variables, and other control variables will be measured by a combination of child-report and parent-report questionnaires. Statistical analyses for the proposed hypotheses include bootstrapping procedures for mediation, linear regression, and hierarchical linear regression. Implications of the proposed study will be discussed in terms of identifying factors underlying various outcomes associated with functional abdominal pain. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Findings from this study, and a subsequent line of research, could be used to create new interventions or modify existing interventions to account for the role of executive function and attention regulation in coping and children's differing abilities in these areas. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]